Naira Notes Swap: 36 governors need to intervene – Chair, Senate Committee on banking

From Noah Ebije, Kaduna

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani, has advised the 36 governors of the federation to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari, to further review the 10-day extension for the exchange of old currencies.

“The governors who are the Chief Security Officers of their respective states, should approach the president and inform him of what they are doing to contain insecurity in the various states and maintain peace. They should also point out the security implication of sticking to the new extension of 10 days,’’ Senator Sani said.

Senator Uba Sani who spoke with the Hausa Service of the BBC on Monday morning, pointed out that apart from the consequences of the limited period given to change the old naira notes, there are also security implications if the time is not extended.

The BBC news which was monitored by Malam Ibraheem Musa, the Director of Strategic Communication of the Kaduna State APC Campaign Council, quoted the Senator as advocating the earlier June deadline that was suggested by the National Assembly, for the currency exchange.

Senator Uba Sani who is also the APC gubernatorial candidate of Kaduna state, gave reasons why the 10 day period should be further extended for another six months.

‘’We in the senate and the House of Representatives, after passing our motions calling for extension of the exercise to June, pointed out that the new notes are not readily available in most banks. There are also people in rural areas who took their currencies to the bank but they were unable to change them because the new bank notes are not available.

‘’There are also people who live in remote areas, who can not get to the nearest bank before the deadline expires. There are also some business men whose businesses are cash-based,’’ he said.

The Chairman on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institution explained that these reasons informed the National Assembly’s earlier resolution, adding that although the time has been extended by 10 days, the period is still not adequate.

Senator Uba Sani said the role of the National Assembly on this matter is to pass a motion and advise the executive arm of government on the dangers of the non extension of the 10 day deadline.

The Senator said that legislators are representatives of the people who were elected by them and they have reached out to the law makers with their complaints and concerns, which they have conveyed in form of a motion.